Austin Birth Injury Attorneys

Birth injuries are mostly preventable and can often be linked to a medical provider’s mistakes during labor or delivery or sometimes while a mother is pregnant. Thousands of children are born with a serious injury due to medical malpractice each year. The parents of these children are usually put in financial binds as they struggle to figure out how they can care for their newborn and their special medical and lifetime needs.

To give your child a chance at a comfortable life, filing a lawsuit against the medical provider and/or hospital that assisted with your child’s birth might be the only option. Howry, Breen & Herman, LLP in Austin and our birth injury lawyers would like to know if we can provide legal assistance to you during this difficult time. We have decades of collective experience that we can use to calculate the maximum damages owed to you, file against all relevant defendants and insurance policies, and negotiate or litigate for an optimal result. While we work diligently on your case, you can focus on your child’s needs and health.

Call (512) 430-4844 right away if you need to talk to an Austin birth injury attorney.

Types of Birth Injury Claims

Birth injuries can come in many forms depending on what the medical provider did that was negligent. For example, injuries to an unborn child can be much different if an obstetrician fails to notice signs of a health complication compared to those caused by a doctor who pulls too roughly on a child during labor.

Two of the most common types of birth injury are:

• Cerebral palsy (CP): When an unborn or newborn child is deprived of oxygen, it can cause cerebral palsy. Brain damage from CP lasts a lifetime and can cause an array of difficulties, such as learning difficulties, loss of muscular control, speech impediments, and more.
• Brachial plexus and Erb’s palsy: A child who is pulled incorrectly or with too much force during birth can suffer a brachial plexus injury or Erb’s palsy. Both conditions are characterized by damage to the arm, shoulder, and connecting nerves and tendons. Severe cases can cause permanent arm weakness or paralysis.

Complications That Can Cause a Birth Injury

Medical providers must exercise the utmost care to notice the signs of a birth complication and to prevent birth injuries from carelessness. Failing to provide the same standard of medical care that another medical professional would have in the same situation can constitute medical malpractice and warrant a birth injury claim or lawsuit.

Warning signs of birth injuries may include:

• Umbilical cord complications: A newborn can suffocate or suffer low blood-oxygen levels if the umbilical cord wraps around the neck during or before labor. Umbilical cord complications are one of the more common causes of cerebral palsy.
• Premature labor: A mother who goes into labor weeks or months before the expected delivery date will be in danger of health complications, as will her child. Medical providers must anticipate the high chances of birth injuries suffered by a premature child and take appropriate actions to minimize those injuries.
• Detached placenta: If the placenta becomes detached from an unborn child, then an emergency C-section must usually take place within minutes to spare the child from suffering a birth injury, like brain damage due to nutritional and blood-oxygen deficiencies.
• Abnormal heart rate: A pregnant woman with an abnormal heart rate or hypertension might be experiencing the first symptoms of an underlying complication that could harm her unborn child. Obstetricians who notice heart rate issues in a pregnant mother must advise appropriate next steps to mitigate further problems.

Birth Injuries Call for a Lifetime of Compensation

Most children born with a birth injury will have to live with that injury and its complications. Specialized treatments can help in some cases, as can rehabilitative therapy. Unique forms of education can also overcome some learning development issues present in many children with birth injuries.

All of the care required to make a child’s life more comfortable, both now and far into the future, adds up to significant costs, though. The purpose of your birth injury claim will be to secure all of those future costs and to avoid some of the stress the birth injury otherwise would have caused you and your child.

Ready to Fight for Your Child at a Moment’s Notice

Call (512) 430-4844 at any time you need to speak with an Austin birth injury attorney from our firm. We pride ourselves on our responsive communication with clients and potential clients, so you will never feel like you have been overlooked when you are working with us. Howry, Breen & Herman, LLP means business when it comes to doing what is right for children in need and their families.

Contact us now so we can talk about your birth injury claim or lawsuit.